Leadership History of the Moderate Party
Below is a brief summary of the political career of each leader of the Moderate Party of Rutania as it appears in the Rutanian Hansard. Toby Degotardi Prior to his election to Parliament in 3484, Toby Degotardi was a political adviser to Jeremy Purves MP from 3470-3482. Degotardi had been a member of the Rutanian Liberty Party and was often touted as a future Minister for Foreign Affairs. In 3488, he was passed over for the position and had the party's whip withdrawn in 3491. A year later, he was reelected to Parliament as an independent. Just months after the election, 21 other parliamentarians joined Degotardi and formed the United Alternative movement. The movement grew and dozens of other politicians were joining. He had planned to contest the 3496 elections as a member of the United Alternative but was forced to run for his seat as an independent again as a result of controversial election laws. Shortly after the State Opening of Parliament, the Rutanian Electoral Commission officially recognized the movement, which was now known as the New Right. Not surprisingly, Degotardi was selected by his parliamentary colleagues to serve as the first official leader of the party. In 3500, Degotardi saw the party win only 32 seats, a massive decrease from the previous Parliament. He also contested the presidential election and faired poorly. In the days following the elections, many speculated that Degotardi would stay on as leader but he was soon challenged by a new MP, Alex Drake-Brockman. In the days leading up to the election, various news outlets suggested that the vote between Degotardi and Drake-Brockman would be close. However, hours before the vote, Degotardi withdrew his name from consideration after his deputy, Alexander Tribolet announced his intention to support Drake-Brockman. Drake-Brockman was elected unopposed and Degotardi was named Finance spokesman. He remained in this position until he was dropped by Christian Guillou in 3508. Degotardi resigned from Parliament a year later. Alex Drake-Brockman A popular journalist, Alex Drake-Brockman had long considered a career in politics. He joined the upstart New Right in 3498 after previously serving as an adviser to Noah Hazen MP for three years and soon became the party's press secretary. He surprised many by standing for Parliament in 3500. Shortly after the 3500 elections, Drake-Brockman was approached by party activists and was urged to stand for the leadership against Toby Degotardi. While he was initially hesitant, he opted to run and Degotardi bowed out of the race after Alexander Tribolet, the deputy leader, announced his support for Drake-Brockman. In return, Tribolet was allowed to continue in his role. In Parliament, Drake-Brockman faired well during Question Time. He made national news when he called for early elections in February 3502 following the collapse of the Social Radical Party. He was criticized for his totalitarian leadership style after he controversially fired his Environment spokesman, Clowy Nisbet, in October 3503. In 3504, Rutanians went to the polls and the New Right lost two seats. However, Drake-Brockman increased the party's showing in the presidential election. As a result of the losses, he was expected to resign as leader. Surprisingly, he decided to stay on after it emerged that the New Right would play the role of kingmaker when forming the next government. He was able to get two ministries for the New Right. In 3508, Rutanians once again rejected the New Right and Drake-Brockman stepped down as leader. Following his resignation, Drake-Brockman played a crucial role in the election of Christian Guillou to the leadership. As a reward, he was named spokesman for Defence. In 3512, Drake-Brockman successfully stood for the deputy leadership. In Nicholas Axman's first cabinet shuffle, he was named the spokesman for Food and Agriculture. Christian Guillou Guillou was elected to Parliament in 3500. During this time, he served quietly on the back benches until he became the spin doctor for the New Right. After his resignation as leader, Alex Drake-Brockman convinced Guillou to stand in his place to avoid the potentially disastrous leadership of Alexander Tribolet. While it was generally agreed that Guillou was a more effective communicator of the party's message and was simply a more competent leader, some in the parliamentary caucus feared that the inexperienced Guillou would lead the party to even poorer results. Drake-Brockman was able to convince his faction to back Guillou and he was able to defeat Tribolet by a vote of 14-11. One of his first acts was to reshuffle his leadership team. He promoted many new faces and demoted many of his colleagues. One of the casualties of his leadership change was the party's first leader: Toby Degotardi. Guillou also reformed the deputy leadership position and instituted that the deputy leader would also run for the presidency of Rutania. In 3512, Guillou saw the party gain a single seat in Parliament. However, the party lost further support in the presidential election. Consequently, he had the New Right resign from government and announced a leadership spill. Guillou faced five challengers and managed to retain the leadership by winning 59% of the vote. Early elections were called in 3518, and the New Right won 49 seats. Shortly after the elections, Guillou announced his resignation as leader after over a decade as leader. In Nicholas Axman's first cabinet shuffle, he was named the spokesman for Foreign Affairs. Nicholas Axman Nicholas Axman was elected to Parliament in 3504. He was elected leader following the 3519 leadership election. He led the party into the 3522 elections. Despite his best efforts, Axman failed to increase the party's standings in Parliament. In 3525, he gave into internal pressure and resigned the leadership. He had been expected to contest the Deputy Leadership but opted not to run and instead accept the Party Presidency. Axman retired from Parliament in 3538. Mathieu Cazares Cazares was elected to Parliament in 3508. His wife, Solène Castillo, joined him in 3518. In 3519, Cazares contested the deputy leadership and won on the third ballot. Following the 3522 elections, many party activists pushed for Cazares to challenge Nicholas Axman for the leadership. He continued to stress his loyalty but the pressure was too great and Axman resigned in 3525. Cazares was the instant frontrunner and won the leadership on the third round with 57%. In 3526, Bernice Primrose led the party to its best showing in any presidential election up to that point. However, the party failed to improve on its standings in Parliament. Instead of resigning or reshuffling his team, Cazares rebranded his party as the Moderate Party of Rutania. Things were beginning to look up until the Sunbeam Squad entered politics. In 3530, they took a significant amount of support from the Moderate Party and consequently, the Moderates saw their worst electoral performance ever. Cazares resigned immediately and was replaced by his deputy, Bernice Primrose. Bernice Primrose For a time, Bernice Primrose was viewed as the savior of the Moderate Party. However, her relative inexperience in Parliament proved to hurt her and the party. After Mathieu Cazares resigned following the 3530 elections, Primrose became the first deputy leader to ascend to the leadership. Many expected Primrose to stand for the leadership but she stunningly announced that she would not put her name forward. Matt Glavic Prior to his election to the leadership, Matt Glavic was a political economist. He stood for the leadership in 3532 and easily won despite not being a member of Parliament. In the weeks before the 3534 elections, he announced that the Moderates needed to win 24 seats in order to be a viable force in Rutanian politics. On Election Day, Glavic's Moderates won 30 seats. However, Cameron DesBrisay, the foreign affairs critic, and Mary Van Otterloo, the health critic, both lost their seats in upsets. Despite their defeats, he asked both of them to continue serving in their posts. The 3538 elections proved to be a disaster for the Moderates. However, Cameron DesBrisay and Mary Van Otterloo reentered Parliament. At the Party Congress in January 3539, Glavic won the support of only 79.7% of delegates. He immediately announced that he would be shuffling his frontbench. In 3542, the Moderates saw a surge in support that brought them to 32 seats in Parliament, the highest number in 16 years. For years later, the Moderates did even better, winning 47 seats. By 3550, speculation was rampant that Glavic would step down as leader. Instead he led the Moderates to their greatest level of support in the party's history. 53 Moderates were elected to Parliament and Graham Buchanan won 9.36% of the popular vote in the presidential election. Shortly after the elections, Glavic successfully got the Moderates three cabinet portfolios. As soon as the new government was announced, Glavic announced his intention to step down after what would ultimately be 20 years in the leadership. Eric Creaghan Eric Creaghan was elected to Parliament in 3530, shortly after graduating from graduate school. In 3532, he ran for the leadership and stunningly won 22%. His support came largely from students. Following his defeat, he was appointed by Matt Glavic to the frontbench as the Moderate critic for Justice. He finally became a minister in 3551. Shortly after joining the government, Creaghan ran for and was elected to the leadership. He surprised the political world by staying in cabinet while also serving as the parliamentary leader of the Moderates. In the spring of 3558, Creaghan was able to orchestrate a government reshuffle. He retained his portfolio and was able to get two additional ministries for the Moderate Party. In November, support for the party surged as Sharri Kalmbach became the first Moderate Party candidate to advance to the runoff for the Rutanian presidency. Kalmbach won just over a third of the vote but this was huge for the party. Additionally, the party gained 95 parliamentary seats, the largest increase in seat share of any party. Personal Information